Rinn earns top honors in ECAC Northeast

Posted
Thursday, March 1, 2012 1:00 pm

Brenden Soares

It’s been quite a week for Toll Gate graduate Jacob Rinn.

First, Rinn – who attends Nichols College – was named the ECAC Northeast Goalie of the Year by the coaches in the conference. He had previously been named ECAC Northeast goaltender of the week twice during the regular season.

Rinn complied a 9-3-1 record this season in league play to go along with a .919 save percentage and a 2.42 goals against average.

Last Saturday, he backstopped the Bison into the semifinals of the ECAC Northeast tournament, making 25 saves in a 3-2 triumph against sixth-seeded Becker.

Baron lifts URI at buzzer

Billy Baron had the biggest moment of his short University of Rhode Island career on Saturday, as he helped the Rams pull out a 64-62 win over St. Louis.

Baron, who played his high school basketball at Hendricken, came through for the Rams with 4.6 seconds left on the clock when his shot from the baseline found the bottom of the net, ending a five-game losing streak for Rhode Island.

Baron finished the game with 13 points. The Rams improved their season record to 6-23, and their Atlantic-10 conference record to 3-11.

Seasons finishing up for local basketball players

When the final horn goes off in Dartmouth’s contest against Columbia this Saturday, the college basketball career of Hendricken alum David Rufful will have reached its conclusion.

Rufful will end his career with the Big Green having not missed a single game since setting foot on campus in the autumn of 2008.

Another Hendricken graduate who ended his season is Brendan Degnan, who finished his time at Wheaton on the short end of a 62-58 result against Babson in the quarterfinals of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference tournament on February 22.

Degnan did achieve recognition for his play earlier in the month by being named NEWMAC Player of the Week for pacing the Lyons to a pair of close wins against Worcester Polytechnic (71-69) and the Coast Guard Academy (67-62), averaging 18.5 points across the two contests.

Ryan Palumbo (Hendricken) ended his freshman season for Roger Williams with team-high marks in steals (48) and assists (77), while averaging 6.8 points per game for the Hawks.

Hockey players finishing up, too

Steve Mollo (Hendricken) will be playing in a high-stakes game of ice hockey this Saturday, as St. Anselm will be taking on Stonehill for the championship of the Northeast-10 Conference.

The Hawks clinched their spot in the title decider for the third season in a row the previous Saturday with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over St. Michael’s, in which St. Anselm extended its unbeaten run to eight (six wins, two ties).

For the season, Mollo has notched four goals and the same number of assists, along with a plus-minus of plus-9, good for second on the team.

Nick Mattiello (Hendricken) saw his season come to an end last Saturday as Assumption fell to Stonehill 3-2 in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 tournament.

Mattiello finished the 2011-12 campaign tied for the team lead in goals with 13 and second on the Greyhounds with 24 points.

Bobby Gauthier (Hendricken) concluded his junior season for Becker with an assist and 19 penalty minutes in 17 games for the Eagles, who ended their season with a record of 9-15-2.